DeMarcus Nelson (Duke University)

Last year (Dime #28) we debuted the “Player’s Ball” college hoops preview, where we went to some of the NCAA’s best players and had them preview their own conferences. This year we did it again (Dime #37), but since we didn’t have room in the mag for some of the mid-majors, we’re dropping them on DimeMag.com along with the big boys. Today, Duke wing DeMarcus Nelson breaks down the ACC:

THE EXPERT: DeMarcus Nelson, Duke, Sr., SF
Emerging from the shadow of J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams, Nelson led the Blue Devils in scoring (14.2 ppg) and steals (1.3) last season, and was second on the team in rebounds (5.4 rpg). This year the 6-4, 200-pound wing is the lone senior on a team that’s looking to bounce back from an uncharacteristic early tournament exit.

EXPERT OPINION: “In the ACC you’re going to have battles. We get six, seven, eight teams in the tournament every year — some people might take that for granted, but that shows how hard it is to win in this league. The ACC is a man’s league. Every team has their unique style, but we all play tough, gritty and scrappy.

“North Carolina is always talented. Just like us, year in and year out they’re gonna bring in the best players and be competitive. Ty Lawson (PG, 10.2 ppg, 5.6 apg, 1.5 spg) and Wayne Ellington (SG, 11.7 ppg) are going to contribute more this year. Deon Thompson (PF, So.) had a good summer (with the U-19 U.S. national team), so he should contribute more for them, too. And they still have Tyler Hansbrough (C/PF, 18.4 ppg, 7.9 rpg). N.C. State is supposed to be really good. They’re returning everybody, from Gavin Grant (14.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg) to Brandon Costner (PF, 16.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and their other big man, Ben McCauley (C, 14.4 ppg, 6.9 rpg), and they have some good new players coming in. Maryland is always gonna have a good team. They’ve got Greivis Vasquez (9.8 ppg, 4.6 apg) and Eric Hayes (4.8 ppg, 3.9 apg) at point guard, who will make a lot of noise in our conference. Wake Forest returned just about everybody except for Kyle Visser. Coach (Skip) Prosser passing, that’s devastating. I knew him as a very good coach — every time we played against them he showed great class and we had some great battles. I think their team will want to do even better for him, to take their game to the next level. Virginia runs a guard-oriented system that puts pressure on your perimeter guys to defend. Sean Singletary (19 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 4.7 apg) is one of the better point guards in our league. They lost J.R. Reynolds, but their other guard, Mamadi Diane (9.6 ppg), is coming back. Virginia Tech lost some of their core guys, but they have Deron Washington (SF, 12 ppg, 5.3 rpg) back. They’re a very scrappy team; they give themselves a chance to win every ballgame.

“I really like our team. We’ve all worked hard this offseason to make sure we have the type of season Duke is accustomed to having. Our standards are higher than our competition; a lot of people would have been happy just going to the tournament, but we’re very hard on ourselves. For us, last season was a failure.

“You’re gonna see a big improvement out of Jon Scheyer (SG, 12.2 ppg) and Greg Paulus (PG, 11.8 ppg, 3.8 apg). Kyle Singler (SF, Fr.) is a very heady player who knows how to play the game the right way. Nolan Smith (PG/SG, Fr.) can play. Our big fella, Brian Zoubek (C, So.), we’re looking for him to contribute a lot. Top to bottom, everyone on the team improved: Lance Thomas (PF, So.), David McClure (SF, 4.9 rpg), Gerald Henderson (SG, 6.8 ppg) … we’re all working with an edge this year because we took a lot of dirt in the face from how last season ended.”

Player’s Ball archive
11/5 – Mountain West (Brandon Ewing, Wyoming)
11/2 – Big 12 (A.J. Abrams, Texas)